A God-awful Small Affair

Before I begin I should point out that I've never actually listened to any of the Cold War Kids' material from their first two albums, so whether or not this is an improvement, selling out, repeated tedium or massive breakthrough is beyond my grasp. What's immediately obvious though is that their sound tends to pastiche a variety of other artists around - there are guitar twangs reminiscent of Kings of Leon here, vocal delivery similar to The Gaslight Anthem and atmospherically it's similar to The National - and indeed this is a slight problem for me. Prior to listening their name was thrown about in the same vein as The National's, and upon discovering High Violet I was almightily disappointed. That said, I never had too much hope of this. The reviews by NME, Slant and Spin have been less than favourable. But enough background information. The titular track opens promisingly, with carefully-placed chimes and strong vocals passing by pleasantly. However, 'Louder...

It's been a while since I anticipated an album as much as I have this (perhaps because its release date coincides with the day after my own 21st birthday). Since the release of 2008's debut '19' (which I found admittedly somewhat sketchy and not particularly outstanding) my love affair with Adele's voice has blossomed, especially courtesy of a recent performance on the Jools Holland show. The kind of raw intensity that her voice packs is an underestimated talent. I can say with no exaggeration that hers is perhaps the best the UK has produced since Dusty Springfield, although a certain Amy might have a claim to stake in that. Kicking off with first single 'Rolling in the Deep' we're immediately grabbed with earnesty as a thumping drumbeat and soaring vocals tell tales of wrongdoings and anger of love lost, a theme that's set to be explored fully over the course of the album. It's certainly up there with the best of her material, and that is to s...

I was a huge fan of White Lies' debut, "To Lose My Life". "Farewell to the Fairground" is still my ringtone (so is coming up to 2 years as so) and I still listen to "Death" virtually every day. So it was always going to be a difficult task for 'Ritual' to match up to this, and, I have to warn, it doesn't. Ignoring the dodgy choice of artwork, there's an obvious change of musical direction. Gone are the tense, doomy atmospherics that set a majestic backdrop to the likes of 'E.S.T.' and 'To Lose My Life', and in its place is a surge in drumbeats, even dance influences. To describe it with aid of other musicians, they've essentially gone from Joy Division lite to Nine Inch Nails lite. However, "Is Love" is an ambitious and exciting opener. Slowly building throughout it peaks with a thrilling pace and a choice set of lyrics ('the milk that's going rancid on the table'), aided with unusual guitar twa...

My experience with the Go! Team has been fleeting - for me they've been a group of what I dub "Oh!" songs, to borrow unnecessary exclamation. Due in part to discovering them as late as last year, their songs' exposure to a variety of popular outlets (adverts, television trailers, use in shows...) has placed them in the bracket of the remembered rather than the discovered. So it is with some trepidation that I listen to "Rolling Blackouts", though this uncertainty was somewhat quashed by the release of single 'T.O.R.N.A.D.O.'. A brazen assault on the senses, the single begins the album with a series of manic whistles and clattering brass - sampling Antibalas' "Beat Metal" to great effect and with real punch. Their signature childish energy aids to really knock your socks off. However, the next few tracks prove disappointing by sheer comparison. 'Secretary Song' has a few interesting sounds and comforting tap-your-feet-along abili...